On-Farm Kill & Carcase Collection Open Framework Agreement
Framework Description
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is re-procuring its On-Farm Kill & Carcase Collection framework as an eight-year open framework, split into lots. It will buy handling, culling, carcase removal and disposal, and post-mortem examination facilities for farmed livestock, mainly for TB control. The estimated term is 1 May 2027 to 30 April 2035, with no extension option, and the estimated value is £23.14 million excluding VAT.
Context & Use Case
The framework will be open to Defra, APHA, the Welsh Government and the Scottish Government. Demand comes mainly from TB control work, where animals must be killed on farm, collected and disposed of, with some sent for post-mortem examination. As an eight-year open framework, it gives these bodies a standing pool of contractors for work that recurs every year on farms in England, Wales and Scotland.
Scope of Services
Handling of farmed livestock on farm On-farm killing and culling Carcase collection and removal Provision of post-mortem facilities Carcase disposal
Lots
See framework link
Who Can Apply
Suits fallen-stock collectors, livestock hauliers, licensed carcase disposal and rendering operators, and businesses with post-mortem facilities, particularly those able to respond within six to twelve hours, as the notice warns of very short-notice call-outs. So far APHA has run market engagement only; suppliers apply once the tender is published. As an open framework, it should reopen to new suppliers at points during its term.
Buyer Benefits
APHA and the governments it works for need contractors who can be called on quickly when animals must be removed, with welfare, biosecurity and disposal standards agreed in advance. One long agreement shared by Defra and the Welsh and Scottish Governments avoids a separate tender for each administration, and the open framework model lets APHA add capacity where coverage proves thin.
Next Steps
The Find a Tender notice is a preliminary market engagement notice: its feedback deadline was 26 June 2026, and APHA estimated the tender notice for late September 2026. The tender will run through the Defra eSourcing portal, so register there now and watch Find a Tender for the tender notice. Gather licences, biosecurity procedures, response-time evidence and TB or disease-control case studies.
How Athena Can Help
With the tender still to be published, Athena can help you prepare now rather than when the clock starts. Our bid management team would plan the response, draft method statements on animal welfare, biosecurity and disposal routes, and compliance-check everything before submission.
If you are unsure whether the work fits your coverage and capacity, our bid/no-bid advice tests that early. Because open frameworks reopen, we can also build the later entry points into a framework pipeline plan for your business.
